Even though you consider yourself the quintessential road warrior, have you ever been in a travel situation when suddenly you felt helpless for no apparent reason? And even though you had a handle on the territory, have you ever felt lost? Likewise, have you been in another country and suddenly you were unable to manage even the simplest of tasks? Have you suddenly been sad and lonely? Even a little melancholy?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, chances are you were simply suffering a bout of a common travel malady called culture shock.
The dictionary definition helps clarify just what culture shock is: the trauma you experience when you move into a culture different from your home culture.
Happily, this globetrotting syndrome usually isn't an issue on short visits abroad, no matter how uncharted the territory or how surreal the experience where the end is in sight. However, longer stays to distant lands tend to cause different and often distressing effects.
Indeed, for sojourners who have committed themselves to lengthy assignments on unfamiliar turf, it is not uncommon that their stay away eventually takes a toll. After that initial feeling of euphoria wears off, a variety of emotional and even physical upsets may ensue.
Culture shock is surreptitious. It shows up in the most unusual ways at the most unexpected times. Sometimes you'll be unable to sleep while other times you'll need to sleep far too much. You may go from angry to vulnerable in a nanosecond for no apparent reason and you may even wish you were anywhere but where you happen to be.
But, if you hang in there, those effects will surely fade.
Consider the case of one expatriate.
Out of work and having trouble finding any in the Los Angeles area, Heidi decided to look elsewhere. As a television executive, this transplanted Pennsylvanian had made Hollywood a happy home for nearly a decade. Still, in order to pursue her chosen profession, she was willing to relocate.
That she did—about 8,000 miles away in Melbourne, Australia.
When the two-year contract came through, Heidi had to move quickly. She was given a mere month to get there and find her bearings before reporting to her new job.
The task seemed insurmountable. My friend had to rent her home, store the bulk of her possessions, and find a place to live in Melbourne all in the space of 30 days. Always up for a good challenge, this goal-oriented woman did it, but not without consequences.
Shortly after she arrived in Australia, culture shock hit Heidi hard. Though a seasoned traveler, this was the first time she had ever lived in another country. Despite the fact that she was extremely excited about the dramatic move, Heidi suffered a lot of classic symptoms. She felt alternately angry and sad, unhappy and moody, anxious and frustrated.
"It's like perpetual PMS," Heidi told me at the time. "My feelings are all over the place."
I could identify, having done my time in the land of culture shock while working in Hong Kong on a three-year assignment. As living proof, I told her she would get over this phase of the transition. To that end, I offered what I had learned during my stay away from home.
? Expect to experience a roller coaster of emotions, keeping in the back of your mind the knowledge that this discomfort will not last forever. Realize from the get-go that at times during the start of your stay, you might experience everything from being overwhelmed to being totally disoriented. Also realize that this too shall pass.
? You might find yourself feeling physically ill when you first make your move to another country on another continent. For about four weeks I had all the symptoms of the flu without the fever. Worried, I went to a Canadian doctor working in Hong Kong and he told me that I had "Hong Kong Lurgy. It's a malaise almost all of us ex-pats have to go through before we acclimate." Not fun, but not insurmountable, either.
? Small tasks might seem unreasonably formidable at first, but take each in stride and try to delegate until you feel ready to take on whatever comes your way. For instance, if you need to pick the perfect place for a power meal, but you don't know the lay of the land yet, ask for help from a co-worker who does. If you are having trouble finding an expedient route to work, ask a local to show you the ropes.
? Keep up ties with the folks back home. E-mail your best friend every day, write a real letter in your own handwriting to your mother once a week, send a fax to a former colleague every once in a while. Sending and receiving news back from those who care should help shake off some of the culture-shock blues.
? Look for moral support in your current situation. Pursue a friendship with someone of your own nationality who has been there longer. This will likely be the best person with which to commiserate because she has probably experienced at least some of what you are experiencing.
? Make sure to take the time to do something fun that has nothing to do with your job. Join a gym, take up golf, or try a ceramics class.
? Do whatever you can to learn your new country's native tongue, but don't expect to be fluent or to catch all the nuances of the new language. To buoy your confidence, take classes after work, and when you need to attend a meeting that won't be conducted completely in English, take along a bilingual colleague to translate if you get in a jam.
If you can't stand taking classes then hire a tutor. When I lived in Hong Kong I paid someone to take me out three times a week to lunch, to sightsee, to go shopping. The only hitch was we had to communicate in Cantonese the entire time we were out. It was not only fun but also educational. Before long I was able to have a simple conversation in the native tongue with just about anyone who would talk to me.
? Travel. Make it a point to learn about the country in which you have relocated by seeing more of it than just the city to which you were assigned. Go on day trips. Go on weekend trips. Go somewhere new each time you have any vacation time.
? Make friends, not only from within the expat community, but from within the community at large. Drink in the culture by being part of it, not by looking at it from the sidelines.
? Do all you can to assimilate, but always embrace the fact that you are an American. Share your culture with your new acquaintances as they share theirs with you. This will not only help the transition, but it will make it more memorable as well.
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